The Amarr Imperial Navy has been upgrading many of its ships in recent years and adding new ones. The Punisher is one of the most recent ones and considered by many to be the best Amarr frigate in existence. As witnessed by its heavy armaments, the Punisher is mainly intended for large-scale military operations, acting in coordination with larger military vessels, but it is more than powerful enough for solo operations.
I had instructed my technicians to fit up the ship to my exact specifications, I had the best dual light pulse lasers my current knowledge base would allow me to fit and I had gone for a typical armor repair unit and 200mm rolled plate type set up - a small nosferatu unit an essential to help bleed some life into tight situations was also part of the fix.
I was happy that I was finally about to undock into the vastness of New Eden with something that was to me such an improvement from the very basic Impairor that had served me so well as my ferry to the stars. I waited with baited breath for the weathered undock light to turn to green . . . then, a sudden shrill of excitement coursed through me and the hairs on my body stood up in the slime of the pod goo that was encasing me.
GREEN
I was ejected into the bustle of this deeply cold Caldari controlled pocket of space. Freighters and transport ships jostled for room outside of the busiest station in all of New Eden with frigate hulls, cruisers and above. A formation of snipe battleships looked menacing and ready for action some way off the station.
BUMP
My tiny frigate hull creaked and the sound of metal on metal was unnerving to say the least, what looked like the side of an Iteron was a little too close for comfort, so close in fact that I could make out the frozen service lines of the mammoth ship.
I slammed into warp and made my way quickly to the exit gate . . . .
- - - -
The plan was to roam around the high security systems in and around the busy Lonetrek and The Forge regions and then work my way onto the low-sec pipe around Egghelende and Amamake before heading up to Metropolis where hopefully I would dock up for the night still with a starship fit to serve and a healthy clone. Oh and maybe a drop in security status.
- - - -
AKIAINAVAS Solar System.
(Karnola) Constellation.
LONETREK Region.
It was quiet. I had hoped to flip some cans in the many asteroid fields and anger the local mining fleets. Instead I was met with the constant drone of the mining barges and their heavy drilling beams, no cans in sight. I switched tactics, dropped some cans of my own, looted some wrecks but it brought about no aggression.
Howling solar winds whisped at my hull as I orbited the nearby Rifter pilot, goading him to shoot back at me after I just stole some of his loot - nothing. I idled and the blue jet streams on the back of my Punisher slowly fizzled and popped as I sat motionless in the black and green space.
A new destination was set and I was soon making best speed to Egghelende solar system, albeit via an unplanned diversion - local intel in and around the Caldari Border Zone had reported a camp of smartbombing battleships blocking the gates in Tama. Certainly one to avoid.
Egghelende was again quiet. I warped into the belts and began testing out my lasers. To my surprise, as I landed in one of the belts a Shadow Serpentis spawn greeted me - I made short work of the small gang and scooped some nice loot, which I then safely deposited in storage in one of the local stations.
The next part of my journey took me through Metropolis and then Heimatar, targets along the route were not feasible and the main gangs in the area were camping gates, some faction warfare squads also patrolled the space lanes. I decided to turn off out of the low-sec pipe and made my way to the Ammold sytem where for the dwindling hours of the evening I danced around some cans with some Rifter pilots but never actually managed to grab any aggression.
I decided to dock up in the Republic Military School and after cleansing myself of pod goo made my way to rent out some sleeping quarters, it was going to be a brief stay. After all, the stench of unwashed Brutor hung in the recycled air.
As I lay awake in my bunk I thought back to my roam and the events and lack of any real action. It was great to finally get out there, so to speak. Next time I would crave to fill my need for blood lust. I closed my eyes and drifted to some other place . . . .
Oxi.
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